It’s time to feature another Fabulous MomDot Blogger! Please welcome Melissa from Full Circle, our first November interview! She is the perfect choice because November is National Adoption Awareness Month!
1. Congrats on being a MomDot Feature Blogger! Why don’t you start by introducing yourself to our readers!
Hi Everyone, my name is Melissa and I am so honored to be chosen as a featured MomDot Blogger! My wonderful husband and I reside in beautiful Loveland, CO with our herd of kooky canines. We are in the foster/adopt program with a local county and became certified this past July. We currently await “The Call” for placement. For the record yes, it’s on pins and needles..
2. How did you arrive on the blogosphere? What got you interested in blogging?
My cousin Kadi ~ of A Womb At The Inn(Sane) ~ is an amazing writer. Hers was the first blog I ever read and now I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I am addicted. Kadi recommended I start my own as a journal for our future kiddo(s) and cheap therapy for me. It blossomed from there.
3. How did you come up with the name for your blog?
I actually found out a year after my mom passed away (a month before I turned 30) that I myself was an adopted, county baby. I feel like the reason for my little being is starting to make sense and my life is starting to come full circle. Hence, the name.
4. Can you give the MomDot readers a “sneak peek” into what’s coming up next for your blog? Any new events, giveaways, interviews, etc.?
I currently have a giveaway going on (a game to guess when The Call does come.. there are 2 ways to win $25 gift cards to Target) and plan on doing something each month along the same line. Hopefully we’ll be announcing a placement soon and THAT will be a big celebration that will include prizes for my wonderful readers!! Being that November is National Adoption Awareness Month I have a few cool interviews in the works, as well.. Stay tuned!!
5. Other than your own blog, what are some of your favorite places to “hang out” on the Web?
Oh gosh, I have so many! The one thing I love about the blogosphere is the discovery of all the inspiring and amazing people out there.. Here are just a few of my daily must reads:
- What’s That Smell?
- Postcards From Insanity
- Mile High Mamas
- Don’t Blink
- Weebles Wobblog
- My New Normal
6. Can you tell us how you became interested in Foster Care?
Darling Husband and I are on the older side (he’s in his mid 40’s and I’m teetering on the backside of my 30’s) and we are very aware that time is of the essence. We gave ourselves a year to get pregnant the old fashion way (if Clear Blue Easy EVERYTHING, vitamins out the yingyang, Basal Thermometers, etc are really old school, that is!).
If in that time we didn’t conceive, I was headed straight for Plan B which was adoption. One way or another, we were starting a family. I know first hand that not sharing the same DNA isn’t a deal breaker… Love doesn’t care about all that. I had done my homework and checked out all the avenues (foster to adopt, private, international) and fost/adopt is what spoke to our hearts.
The year came and went and Plan B was set into motion. On December 5th, 2007 when we attended a Family Share Night put on by the county. It gave us a really cool insight into the system and boldly answered the hard questions. There are 400 kids in foster care in our county alone.. they are in our backyard. For us, it was a no brainer.
Thanks for sharing your blog with us, Melissa! Don’t forget to check out her great giveaway and make a guess as to when “The Call” will come!
Interviewed by Bridgette
I love your blog Melissa, I have visited you several times, I am a foster parent as well,I pray that it comes soon for you!
What a lucky, lucky child that will be! 
Melissa it’s truly amazing what you are doing for these children. Trust me I know that feeling, going to school and not being like everyone else. Just wanting a mommy and daddy, or someone to truly care. You’ve made a difference in each one of their lives and it’s because of you they will know what love is. “Keep on keeping on” is what one of my professors always tells us. The road will be hard, heck you may even want to give up but if you need a kind word along the way I’ll be here to remind you!
Proud to be your cousin!! Blessed to be your friend
Thank you everyone for your kind words!!
Kristin: It’s sucess stories like yours that move me down to my soul and is what encourages us to be better people and stay the course. I so hope we can make a difference..even if it’s just one little life at a time.
Oh and if you have any older kiddos educate yourself and them about the Chaffee grant. In many states they can get it until age 22. I know I got my last one this year at 23 and it’s an extra $5,000 for college. I got mine all at once and it was a huge help. With the Pell Grant and my Chaffee I took out less loans. Just thought I would share since I was 20 by the time I found the grant, it would have helped for so many more years if I would have known.
As a former foster child myself let me tell you how much of a difference you are making in their lives. I have been in a shelter and in foster homes. I had never expierenced something so heartbreaking in my life. I was one of the older children in with the teens but I saw all of the younger children. They would try to hug the staff members and they would just push them away. It broke my heart, I was lucky enough to ahve my aunt and uncle raise me. I can’t even imagine how much those kids had gone through and they couldn’t even get a hug. I was still in the shelter for Christmas that year and during our joint parties I did go over and snuggle with a few of them.
You and your husband are truly making a difference in their lives, look at me I never thought I would be where I am. The odds were all against me, kuddos for being so self-less. Anything is possible they can go to college, I never thought I could.
If I may ask are any of the children in your long term care?
What an incredible story! I’m so excited for your adventure.
I really want to watch the perspective that you (as an adoptee) bring to the table for an adopted child. You are goign to rock in ways that I don’t think even you realize yet. Very excited for you!
Very nice interview I look forward to reading your blog
Melissa is awesome and I hope she gets ‘The Call’ SOON! Great interview!
You and your husband sound like amazing people! I hope the call comes soon and allows your family to grow. My thoughts are with you while you wait!
And i cant wait to hear about your call when you get it!
Melissa, I am so humbled by your ability to be so strong and do such a selfless act of humanity and change a childs life.
trisha